1. Technical Field
The present invention relates generally to maintenance of computer systems, and, more particular to performing maintenance on the operating system while the operating system runs locked executables or dynamic libraries, or other types of programmed features.
2. Description of the Related Art
Operating systems are well known in the art. During operation, computer operating systems often lock executables, dynamic subroutine libraries, or data files, or any combination of the three, to protect them while the computer system is running. Sometimes, it is necessary to do maintenance on those files while the computer system is running and it is desirable to minimize any impact to the production system. This is so since separate executables often have interdependencies that can change when a new maintenance level has been completely installed. For example, when a new operating system is installed or a old operating system is upgraded to a new and improved version, this system maintenance can lead to incompatibilities. If only some of the new modules are placed on a system, the system may fail due to these incompatibilities. For example, an inconsistent system can be created using the DOS Replace Module API in OS/2. If the system runs out of swapper space during a set of replacements, some modules will have been replaced and others that needed replacement will not have had the chance to be replaced.
Accordingly, what is needed is a method for dynamic subroutine libraries updating the operating system that has loaded or locked files or executables, or while minimizing failure due to incompatibility or inconsistencies.